Aliens: Colonial Marines

 PC
User Score
3.6

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 1246 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 218 out of 1246
  2. Mixed: 224 out of 1246
  3. Negative: 804 out of 1246
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  1. oliver1h
    Feb 12, 2013
    5
    I would rate the first part of the game below average, That part is set on a space ship, and this is where you encounter human enemies besides aliens. The main problem of the game is the DUMB AI. This ruins the fight with human enemies, but ultimately ruins every part of the game where you are teamed up with human npcs. Team mates get stuck frequently, they are left behind, stay in frontI would rate the first part of the game below average, That part is set on a space ship, and this is where you encounter human enemies besides aliens. The main problem of the game is the DUMB AI. This ruins the fight with human enemies, but ultimately ruins every part of the game where you are teamed up with human npcs. Team mates get stuck frequently, they are left behind, stay in front of you at the wrong times (basically they are useless and annoying...I would rather go alone, than with a marine that is not good for anything...). The second part is set on LV-426 (Aliens took place here). I would rate this part of A:CM average, with some better than average parts. It was fun to encounter the sets of Aliens (especially if you love the universe of the movies). Here the game focuses on the aliens. There is also a mission where you need to rely on stealth (it was a highlight of the game, with creepy lighting and sounds). There are some tense moment in the game, but I never felt scared (There were some intense moments, but I felt the game is lacking tension). The movement of the enemies felt clunchy. This is probably due to the small and closed spaces where most encounters with aliens took place. Many time they are spawned behind the player or just running around. Weapon customisation was a nice addition. The story is average, while characters are very "two dimensional" (with many cheesy dialogues....). Overall the game felt like a generic shooter, set in the Aliens universe, which would deserve a better game than Aliens: Colonial Marines.… Expand
  2. chris514
    Mar 1, 2013
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It is unbelievable that people are rating this game a 9 or 10 it blows my mind don't listen to them im sure the majority of them pre-ordered, unfortunate they are making it worse for us all letting the industry get away with this crap, so shame on them. This is just not a very good game.

    The story is just bad and i refuse to acknowledge it as cannon. For one it fails to explain major plot holes, and don't even get me started on the ending. A marine from the first movie survives??? what were these guys smoking when they came up with that. Any true alien fan would be disappointing with this game and I believe we expect a certain amount of quality to be involved when it comes to this beloved franchise. Yes expectations where high and rightfully so. The sound is great, love the sound effects like the pulse rifle and others such as aliens dying. The AI is bad and ruined the immersion for me on more than one occasion. For instance aliens standing in front of my AI squad mate for seconds attempting to kill him or navigating around him to get to me or like on most occasions my squad mate just firing his smart gun for long periods of time doing absolutely nothing. The graphics are bad which is something that caught me off guard. textures are terrible and character animation is amateur. the lighting ,one of the most important features in anything alien is mediocre which is extremely disappointing. i could go on but you get the idea just not much of a game here multilayer is better but doesn't make up for the terrible campaign.    … Expand
  3. ReviewZone212
    Jul 23, 2013
    6
    The sound is great, the graphics are average and the gameplay feels like a bad call of duty, but I still enjoyed this game, it has things to be enjoyed and things that just suck, If you don't care about the bad campaign just go onto multiplayer and have fun, after 6 years this is what we get? it's disappointing at some point, still likeable though.
  4. Ghua
    Nov 11, 2013
    7
    There is a lot of hype against this game and I totally understand it people were promised a lot for their money and it was not delivered. But is A:CM really that bad?

    I play games since c64, my favorite genre is FPS. I think I played like 80% of FPS games out there. I am also big fan of Aliens and generally sci-fi stuff. I played the latest, patched version. I have to agree that    There is a lot of hype against this game and I totally understand it people were promised a lot for their money and it was not delivered. But is A:CM really that bad?

    I play games since c64, my favorite genre is FPS. I think I played like 80% of FPS games out there. I am also big fan of Aliens and generally sci-fi stuff. I played the latest, patched version.

    I have to agree that game graphics is not as good as other latest AAA games. But I cannot say visuals are bad. A little bit outdated yes. Bad? Not at all. I would say graphic is good enough to have this special atmosphere of Aliens move together with sound it made me jump few times. I dont agree that pre scripted aliens are not scary and behave weird they do what they are supposed to do: they crawl the ceilings and walls and they quickly advance at the player (often by jumping) this is what xenomorphs do.
    On hardened difficulty setting you can get killed easily it is not that easy to kill xeno on the wall.

    NPC AI is ok, not as good as in CoD or BF but acceptable they shoot things and can draw enemy attention to themselves. but I wouldnt count on them to do your job in the heat of the battle. another thing is that xenos will attack YOU if your soldiers are already attacked by their comrades. In game you will meet enemy human soldiers as well. They are not too hard to kill and act OK. Nothing special but not bad at all.

    I wouldnt spend £30 to buy this game, but I got it on Steam offer for £3. At this price it is really good game and all you Aliens fans will love it     … Expand
  5. aznassassin
    Mar 24, 2013
    5
    Aliens: Colonial Marines is a sign of what the gaming industry has degraded to: pure utter Not only does this so-called 'sequel' to Aliens takes a big piece of dump on the Alien film canon, it also demonstrates how deceitful the industry can be and how easily it is for gamers to fall for its web of lies. Not only does A:CM not have any of the graphical power seen in the 2011 E3 demo norAliens: Colonial Marines is a sign of what the gaming industry has degraded to: pure utter Not only does this so-called 'sequel' to Aliens takes a big piece of dump on the Alien film canon, it also demonstrates how deceitful the industry can be and how easily it is for gamers to fall for its web of lies. Not only does A:CM not have any of the graphical power seen in the 2011 E3 demo nor the interesting level designs, the entire game is essentially half broken. Enemy AI is ludicrously dumb and glitchy, the friendly AI is almost broken with some of the worst pathfinding Ive seen in literally years. The plot itself starts off well and actually has some interesting aspects to it throughout the middle but after a few levels, it just falls to pieces, as if they ran out of time and had to add in a horrible, poor-executed climax and conclusion. For fans of the franchise, you will be hooked by its generic xeno-killing gameplay but this excitement only lasts as long as your love for using the Pulse Rifle. There's a wide range of weapons but in all honesty, you'll probably only use 2-3 of them. Thankfully, the Smart-Gun and Pulse Rifles have been well designed and executed with their familiar sounds and impact (though the recoil for the Pulse Rifle is a big ridiculous). Another positive is the inclusion of legendary guns from the second film including Vasquez's Smartgun, Hudon's Pulse Rifle, Norman's Pistol etc. The NPC's you meet are generic as hell and have the worst lines (though the voice-acting is solid). The game cutscenes are poorly rendered and overall, the engine has a 2005 look with excessive lighting and poor textures. Multiplayer-wise, it holds up well but ultimately, compared Natural Selection 2, its inferior. Co-op just feels tacted on and is fun for a few levels for at the end of the day, its probably one of the worst implemented with player warping and a lack of Co-op features. Aliens: Colonial Marines is a total letdown and my biggest disappointment of a game since Mass Effect 3 last year. They have recently released a new patch that does enhance the AI and graphics as well as a solid Bug Hunt DLC but all in all its like adding extra icing and fresh seasoning to a chocolate cake gone bad: too little, too late. Unless you're a big Aliens nut like myself, than avoid A:CM at all costs. Its Game Over all right. Game Over.… Expand
  6. Stianenko
    Feb 18, 2013
    5
    An average FPS, all the fun is due to the fact that you can enjoy the nice working radar and the good old pulse rifle.
    If you close your eyes you will feel like you're really into one of the Alien movies, but when reopening them you will be really disappointed by the stupid A.I., the poor storytelling and the bad presentation.
    Gameplay would be fun if not affected by all those bugs, the    An average FPS, all the fun is due to the fact that you can enjoy the nice working radar and the good old pulse rifle.
    If you close your eyes you will feel like you're really into one of the Alien movies, but when reopening them you will be really disappointed by the stupid A.I., the poor storytelling and the bad presentation.
    Gameplay would be fun if not affected by all those bugs, the enemies act like they're animals, the strategy that you expect from the creatures just does not exist in this game, the human enemies will randomly leave covering position and your fellow soldiers are more a pain in the ass than an aid (the worst thing is that most of the issues could be corrected by a proper debug phase).
    Graphics are 6.5/10, but the use of lights and shadows is light years far from the 1977 masterpiece and some of textures are so much low res for a 2013 game.
    Sound is good in complex, but some audio effects are missing and the music is simply trivial.
    The weapons upgrade system is nice and the unlockable add-ons are well distributed.
    In conclusion, if you are an Alien fan that can close one eye (or two), you will enjoy shooting some xenomorphs.
    Otherwise just run away without looking back.    … Expand
  7. LMW
    Feb 12, 2013
    5
    Played it for 3 hours in 4 people coop mode on Ultimate Badass. 6 11 missions accomplished. What can I say? What I like:

    - 4 people coop makes game a lot better. While not perfect, you have sort of cooperation and tactic while killing stuff. - Sounds and music are not bad at all. Weapons, well-timed music and big booms are all there. - Weapons. While there are basically 3 categories    Played it for 3 hours in 4 people coop mode on Ultimate Badass. 6 11 missions accomplished. What can I say? What I like:

    - 4 people coop makes game a lot better. While not perfect, you have sort of cooperation and tactic while killing stuff.
    - Sounds and music are not bad at all. Weapons, well-timed music and big booms are all there.
    - Weapons. While there are basically 3 categories (rifles, shotguns and pistols), all of them have their own style and feel.

    What I didn't like:

    - Story. Story is meaningless. It doesn't make you care about key figures. Who was that guy over the radio? Who cares, let's move, aliens won't kill themselves.
    - Aliens and enemy soldiers AI. Well, nothing much to say here they are just plain stupid. The only way they can attack you is by jumping straight at you. Oh, they can also just stand and watch you killing them (or just running around waving their claws). And yes, they die A LOT. Packs and packs run at you and you just shoot them in the face. No challenge. Easy as that.
    - Level design is lackluster. Corridors over corridors, watered with boring cut-scenes, where developers try to make you care about characters around you. Nothing spectacular here, at least so far.
    - Almost no challenge. Yes, we died several times during these 6 missions only because we were running straight ahead almost all the time, shooting stuff without any problems (I did check our difficulty level twice I still can't believe it is so easy to play on the Ultimate Badass), but nothing really challenging. Aliens die in a matter of seconds, almost without any effort from our part.

    As it was said before, game feels like another generic FPS. There is nothing special about this title whatsoever. Is it fun? If you play it not alone maybe, but I can't imagine playing it myself all alone (I did finish 2 missions alone, by the way). And yes, graphic is not that terrible. Of course it is quite outdated, but not that bad as many people state. While not at Far Cry or Crysis level, it doesn't make you puke either.

    Overall, 5.5 (maybe 6.0) out of 10 for me.    … Expand
  8. Sergeant_MarkIV
    Feb 16, 2013
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A game that had a lot of potential, but ended up terribly. Blame the casual players! This game was supposed to be an awesome survival experience, but to make the game more accessible to a larger public, the incompetent directors of Sega and Gearbox decided to make it a Call of Duty clone. You don't even need to use the motion tracker one single moment on the entire campaign even on the hardest difficulty, because no enemy will ever spawn behind you. But if you can go through the festival of bugs, and the awful ending, you will able to enjoy a somewhat fun shooter with an actually good soundtrack.… Expand
  9. hotfix666
    Mar 5, 2013
    5
    I really like the Alien films but it did not make me more fond of the game. When I play deathmatch in multiplayers it was great fun so 37 hours before uninstalling when you meet original kamapnjen after 8 hours so you can say it was worth the money.
  10. JTyran
    Feb 14, 2013
    5
    Generally a disappointment, the Aliens atmosphere is there with the sound and lighting effects but the AI is really poor and this really effects the gun play. The weapons are good, each has a role to play and the customization is pretty good allowing you to change the guns to fit your play style.

    Overall its worth a rental or if you can pick it up cheaply but I doubt many people would    Generally a disappointment, the Aliens atmosphere is there with the sound and lighting effects but the AI is really poor and this really effects the gun play. The weapons are good, each has a role to play and the customization is pretty good allowing you to change the guns to fit your play style.

    Overall its worth a rental or if you can pick it up cheaply but I doubt many people would be happy paying the full retail price for this game.    … Expand
  11. Nubblecakes
    Feb 14, 2013
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After playing for a few hours I've already kind of lost interest in the game entirely. I was really excited for this game because I loved the original movies, but this game is pretty disappointing. The visuals are rather outdated, which isn't a deal breaker for me at all, but some of the textures in this game are laughably low resolution. One think I really noticed was how the characters look slightly cartoonish. It almost reminds me of the Jurassic Park video game by Telltale; in regards to the visual style the characters are given. It isn't as pronounced as Telltale's style, but it's still noticeable. The game doesn't have much of a budget for poly count. A lot of models rely almost entirely on textures for intricate details (and do it poorly). Levels tend to have block syndrome as well. As far as the environment art goes, they nailed the old Aliens look pretty well.

    The pacing of the story is awkward at times. Missions and cut scenes tend to start and end abruptly. There was one point in the game where I was on the bridge of a space ship and my crew and I watch helplessly as our ship explodes. We stand perfectly still, unaffected by the blast. Then the mission ends suddenly and at the start of the next mission, we're all lying on the floor of the bridge as if the blast had violently shaken the ship we were on, knocking us all off our feet. Very awkward moment. It's not a HUGE deal, but it's amazing how they overlooked this. There's more of it throughout the campaign. There's even a few glaring issues with the core gameplay. Some sites on weapons don't seem centered. Hit detection also seems off at times, especially around cover. If an enemy is behind cover but you can still see a little bit of their body sticking out, it's nearly impossible to hit them. But whenever you take cover, you frequently get hit by random bullets every few seconds. To top it all off, AI is pretty wonky in this game. Your companions CONSTANTLY walk in front of you as you're firing. I blew myself up at least 6 times because one of my allies walked in front of me RIGHT when I decided to fire a shell from my under-barrel grenade launcher. Very frustrating to say the least. This game had a lot of potential and you can even see it when playing, but it just falls completely flat on its face.    … Expand
  12. daveyy12
    Feb 26, 2013
    5
    This is the first time I have beaten a $50 dollar game in less than 20 hours. Even though the game is relatively easy (even for old guys like me), I still found it to be entertaining. My biggest critiques are: (1) too much down time between fights, even though cut scenes didn't interfere too much. (2) rather dim graphics (3) number of radio calls from the normally absentee players whoThis is the first time I have beaten a $50 dollar game in less than 20 hours. Even though the game is relatively easy (even for old guys like me), I still found it to be entertaining. My biggest critiques are: (1) too much down time between fights, even though cut scenes didn't interfere too much. (2) rather dim graphics (3) number of radio calls from the normally absentee players who always seem to be waiting for the protagonist to show up (4) highly forgettable plot; I can't even remember the hero's name.… Expand
  13. MrWickstar
    Feb 17, 2013
    5
    Thus far i've put around 7 hours into this game and like many others i'm very disappointed. I don't think it deserves all of the 1s and zeros it has here but it is definitely not worth the 50 dollars I spent. Imo this is at best a 30 dollar title IF you're a diehard fan of the franchise. The AI is obviously its biggest flaw, some human enemies will literally stand there indefinitely whileThus far i've put around 7 hours into this game and like many others i'm very disappointed. I don't think it deserves all of the 1s and zeros it has here but it is definitely not worth the 50 dollars I spent. Imo this is at best a 30 dollar title IF you're a diehard fan of the franchise. The AI is obviously its biggest flaw, some human enemies will literally stand there indefinitely while I stare at them and the xenos don't do a whole lot other than charge directly at you or in the case of the spitters come to a dead stop while spitting long enough for you to kill them without any challenge. The graphics aren't as bad as some people are saying, they are just dated. They would stand out in 2009 probably. On the plus side I think it has some of the best sound effects in recent memory, at least with a 7.1 headset on. I also actually like the story as well as the pacing although I wish they'd have added more areas where you can't fire or rely on your weapons. This game isn't worth $50 and it may be Gearbox's lowest point thus far, but it doesn't deserve a 1 or 0, I think that is just spite and some people default to those scores automatically without thinking about it or in some cases without even playing the game they are reviewing.… Expand
  14. Annoymous1
    Mar 15, 2013
    6
    SEGA have made a terrible presentation again. Was not that bad nor good. Good dialogue but terrible missions. Being this game on the human scale it would be Alienated, waste of $70
  15. igor-qwe
    Jun 27, 2013
    5
    Well, since there are lots of negative reviews already I have to add some positive things that I noticed.
    During presentations I wasn't stunned by the level of graphics, so I didn't expect much. The visual part will not make a gamer happy who has spent time playing Battlefield 3 or Crysis 2. But yet it gave enough detalisation so you could imagine yourself being away on a deserted planet.    Well, since there are lots of negative reviews already I have to add some positive things that I noticed.
    During presentations I wasn't stunned by the level of graphics, so I didn't expect much. The visual part will not make a gamer happy who has spent time playing Battlefield 3 or Crysis 2. But yet it gave enough detalisation so you could imagine yourself being away on a deserted planet. Face animations have no 'life', still I don't think it's a big problem.
    Sound effects is important part for a game in a universe of Aliens. It seems that music and sound is not what is usually discussed in reviews, but when these elements are done badly you can't miss such flaws. Using rifles made me want to skip all shooting sections. It is sound that ruined 'feeling' of a weapon. Too bad, because the design of weapons was not that bad.
    The design of levels is poor, 4 gamers on a level would feel lack of space. Despite the fact that it usually took me around 20-30 minutes to complete a level, everything that you keep in mind after completing one was running, shooting, running, loading.
    There was only one time when I was in a team of 4 players. Thing is that I started playing two weeks after the game's release date. By that time everyone stopped playing the game. Absence of server browser made me watch searching for other players for tenth of minutes before I had to go into singleplayer journey.
    The worst thing that made me angry was the storyline. Idea of connecting characters from original 'Aliens' movie with the ones in the game was horrible and had no logic.
    But I have to say that the competitive multiplayer was good. Maps and different classes is the strongest part of the game. It is far away from the gameplay that we have in 'Left 4 Dead', but it is worth playing.
    I'm sorry for those who bought season's pass in advance for the game that disapoints starting from the menu. Finally I have to say, that expectations for the game were too high and I'm 100% sure that the year's biggest fail has already arrived.    … Expand
  16. Nicalapegus
    Feb 14, 2013
    5
    What's worse? A bad game or a disappointment? How about both? How about both and using the Aliens franchise? Gearbox does it again-this game elicits the same feelings I had when I played Duke Nukem Forever. Do yourself a favor and stay away from Gearbox software. Far away.
  17. PsychoGamer
    Feb 15, 2013
    5
    I would give the game a 4.75 but im rounding up, The game is disappointing, has some decent moments but is muddled down by terrible AI, stiff animations, and odd texture pop ins and lack of detail. not to mention the shooting is not really the best, and there is a lack of tension. This is just a shooting gallery with xenos.
  18. YOLO640
    Feb 16, 2013
    6
    Aliens: Colonial Marines is a bit of a mixed bag, First off the campaign is just horrible and i found myself when playing on Hardened difficulty, i could just run through some of the levels. But some of the fan service throughout the campaign is pretty cool especially for Aliens fans such as myself. Finally the Multiplayer i found was surprisingly good. Being able to run around asAliens: Colonial Marines is a bit of a mixed bag, First off the campaign is just horrible and i found myself when playing on Hardened difficulty, i could just run through some of the levels. But some of the fan service throughout the campaign is pretty cool especially for Aliens fans such as myself. Finally the Multiplayer i found was surprisingly good. Being able to run around as xenomorphs is absolute fun. Overall, Aliens: Colonial Marines is an average game and didn't really live up to the hype 6/10… Expand
  19. Solafein
    Feb 16, 2013
    6
    I looked forward to this game for quite a long time. As cliche as it is, I was a huge fan of Aliens since I was a kid, and I've always thought it would be great to have a quality game set in the universe in which you get to assume the role of a Colonial Marine. Anyways, this game really does nothing for the Aliens universe. The story has a lot of flaws. If this weren't hyped a canonicalI looked forward to this game for quite a long time. As cliche as it is, I was a huge fan of Aliens since I was a kid, and I've always thought it would be great to have a quality game set in the universe in which you get to assume the role of a Colonial Marine. Anyways, this game really does nothing for the Aliens universe. The story has a lot of flaws. If this weren't hyped a canonical sequel to a movie I held so dear, I probably wouldn't care. I didn't care at all about any of the AvP stories, I just enjoyed the games for their multiplayer game play. But again, this game was advertized and hyped as being some awesome canonical sequel but falls completely flat...

    The fact that the USCM and Weyland-Yutani Corporation "go to war" is ridiculous, as the company essentially owns the Marine Corp (as well as everything else in the galaxy) in the first place. I guess they just needed an excuse to have you shooting at other people alongside the aliens. The campaign took me only roughly 6-8 hours to complete on "Hardened" difficulty, and had one of the worst endings I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing in a video game. So much for the epic canonical sequel...

    The multiplayer on the other hand, is pretty fun. If you really like the idea of running around shooting Giger aliens and/or hunting marines (without predators of course), then you'll probably enjoy that aspect of the game. Despite its entertainment value, it does need some work as sometimes the aliens feel very clunky despite their speed, strength, and maneuverability. Furthermore, it also seems like an alien can charge directly at you, and manage to kill you somehow despite the fact that you've been spraying it with an automatic weapon for its entire charge. Then again, maybe I just suck at the game ;)

    All in all, I'd give the single player a 5/10. It's story, AI, and boss fights are absolute garbage (IN MY OPINION), BUT they do recreate with an intense attention to detail many of the areas from the Aliens films. The operations center is pretty much in the exact same shape the marines from the movie left it in. The floor panel that Hudson was pulled through can be seen exactly where it happened in the movie. The smart gun ammo counters are still reading "00" and "04," the exact amount of ammo remaining in them from the director's cut of the film. The ventilation shaft the survivors escaped through can be found with the vent lying next to the wall. Although I did notice after watching the E3 demo that although in the demo the door that had been sealed and subsequently breached by the aliens was busted open, in the released product the door was still sealed shut, even though aliens had bashed through it in the film. This is an absolutely trivial detail, however, and certainly does not detract from the game in any way. They also recreated the derelict space craft from the first movie nicely, allowing the player to encounter the space jockey (engineer) in its seat with its chest burst open. Finally, I definitely think they did a great job of recreating the sound effects of the weapons from the film. The pulse rifle also had a truly authentic feel as it actually...pulsed...unlike the weapon's portrayal in AvP and previous Aliens titles.

    Multiplayer, since AI does not control the aliens, is significantly better. I'd give it a 7/10. It's entertaining, and if you like the Aliens universe it will only add to the fun. Hopefully they add new game types, new maps, and various tweaks without charging for all of it...but that probably won't happen.

    I am disappointed overall because I expected more from the title, but I think most reviews are extremely harsh and tend to ignore any and all of the good aspects of the game. That, or they acknowledge them but still give the game a 1/10.    … Expand
  20. Quixotte
    Nov 27, 2013
    6
    This is a last generation game that tries to use basic tools to create an experience worthy of the alien franchise. Game technology has moved on, so it falls short of expectations. However, it makes what I feel to be a very strong attempt at putting the gamer in the position of a marine living the Alien storyline.

    In detail, the story is strong, placing the gamer in all the environments    This is a last generation game that tries to use basic tools to create an experience worthy of the alien franchise. Game technology has moved on, so it falls short of expectations. However, it makes what I feel to be a very strong attempt at putting the gamer in the position of a marine living the Alien storyline.

    In detail, the story is strong, placing the gamer in all the environments of the alien story, although no new ones. Close knit corridors, spacecraft and rocky planet surfaces. The enemies you face are varied both in type and species, meaning that combat is mixed up nicely. You also progress with a set of likeable comrades, which prevents the game becoming 'lonely'.

    However, as a game coming out close to 'crysis'. It really doesn't match up. The graphics are average and the AI is pretty weak, especially for allies that occasionally get lost.

    I enjoyed this game, but it suffers from a poor technological footing and the resulting failure to meet expectations.    … Expand
  21. SuperkenGaming
    Dec 26, 2016
    5
    Aliens: Colonial Marines
    A hollow shooter
    In Aliens: Colonial Marines you play as one of the colonial marines on a rescue mission… And you go through the same recycled locations for 6 hours, shooting spongey alien creatures and humans… This is hands down the most boring first person shooter I’ve ever played… I spent the entire game waiting for it to intrigue or excite me.. But it    Aliens: Colonial Marines
    A hollow shooter
    In Aliens: Colonial Marines you play as one of the colonial marines on a rescue mission…
    And you go through the same recycled locations for 6 hours, shooting spongey alien creatures and humans…
    This is hands down the most boring first person shooter I’ve ever played…
    I spent the entire game waiting for it to intrigue or excite me.. But it never came...
    Its generic feeling from start to finish…
    You get a few moments outside of a ship, but for the most part you’re in doors in areas that all look identical from each other…
    You have a scanner that goes off when enemies are near and you can also use this scanner to give you an idea where to go to next.. And again... everything is recycled and looks the same... you’ll need it…
    You have a great variety of weapons you can switch freely and upgrade as you level up by collecting items and completing challenges in the game…
    But shooting feels hollow…
    There’s no feeling of true hit detection here… spongey enemies…
    Satisfaction is completely missing from the gameplay…
    So what’s left.. Why play this game?
    The only reason to really play this is if you’re an Aliens fan and need the lore…
    There’s a queen alien involved... face huggers… and intriguing struggle within the story…
    But not intriguing enough for someone not a fan of the aliens franchise to justify checking out…
    There’s the ability to play co-op with 4 players as well as an online mode.. but it’s hard to find matches outside of the standard team death match…
    The multiplayer is miles more fun than the single players as its aliens vs marines…
    and you switch sides…
    I feel the aliens are a bit more powerful than the marines… but not enough that I had any issues killing them…
    But on the aliens side kills are way easier…
    And of course at the time of this review this game is about 4 years old.. the community is dying and in no way justifies picking this game up on its own like a call of duty multiplayer mode would…
    Colonial Marines is a dud…
    It’s for the fans and no one else.. And even then it’s an insult…
    I Give Aliens: Colonial Marines
    a 5.5/10    … Expand
  22. Genek13
    Nov 15, 2019
    6
    An average FPS game.
    For better experience play with your friends in co-op.
  23. xXQuantinXx
    Feb 12, 2013
    6
    I totally LOVE the Alien movies, and I think this game will recive a open heart from us. For the rest of you guys that Isn´t that in to the movies, I´m sure you will find a hard time with it. Sure, they got some stuff they could have tweeked here and there, bit I´m enjoying it, and that´s what counts.
  24. sindrealmost
    Feb 12, 2013
    5
    Short review; If you want a generic run n' gun game that just happens to be set in the aliens universe, then this is the game for you. If you however want a suspensful scary gloomy game that will bring you back to Aliens (the first movie) fear levels Then this is not the game for you. PC graphics, while not stellar, is survivable. Gearbox has paid attention to detail when it comes toShort review; If you want a generic run n' gun game that just happens to be set in the aliens universe, then this is the game for you. If you however want a suspensful scary gloomy game that will bring you back to Aliens (the first movie) fear levels Then this is not the game for you. PC graphics, while not stellar, is survivable. Gearbox has paid attention to detail when it comes to recreating Hadleys Hope as it was in the movie, but everything else is lackluster, 5/10 from me.… Expand
  25. LonelySheep
    Feb 12, 2013
    6
    Oh how I wanted to love this game. The campaign for the most part is a soulless, standard FPS with wildly inaccurate guns which make trying to kill mercenaries in cover a chore. The low res textures make the game look dated, attempts are generating atmosphere are a bit hit and miss, the dialogue is nothing special, and the multi-player is a guilty pleasure, but I got to the point where allOh how I wanted to love this game. The campaign for the most part is a soulless, standard FPS with wildly inaccurate guns which make trying to kill mercenaries in cover a chore. The low res textures make the game look dated, attempts are generating atmosphere are a bit hit and miss, the dialogue is nothing special, and the multi-player is a guilty pleasure, but I got to the point where all I wanted to do was play the xenomorphs and got bored whenever I was forced to play as the marines. Leaping around the arenas and crawling across ceilings and walls is mighty good fun, but often the game can't understand exactly what you're doing due to the complex nature of the terrain and your character will start doing donuts a wall or something. At least I managed to pick it up fairly cheap. Meh.… Expand
  26. Dream-turbo
    Feb 12, 2013
    5
    A fun game I enjoyed my time with it and the coop is solid however the inescapable fact is that the campaign was only 3-4 hours long which is just unacceptable from a full price game. I do not pay £40 for a well dressed up teaser trailer for DLC it's a despicable trend and is utterly pathetic.
  27. MadclownJack
    Feb 12, 2013
    5
    It's sad when a beloved franchises gets the "EA" treatment. I might be embellishing a bit, but it's understandable since i used to be a fan. The game is, for lack of a better word, "MEH". I didn't get to play much since i did so at a friend's house, but what i did get to play kind of left me wanting. What the hell was i playing? It certainly didn't feel like an "Aliens" game. SomewhatIt's sad when a beloved franchises gets the "EA" treatment. I might be embellishing a bit, but it's understandable since i used to be a fan. The game is, for lack of a better word, "MEH". I didn't get to play much since i did so at a friend's house, but what i did get to play kind of left me wanting. What the hell was i playing? It certainly didn't feel like an "Aliens" game. Somewhat Clunky and Heavily scripted, the purpose of which, i'm guessing, is inspiring suspense, but it doesn't really matter because it fails to do so in any other way except for those moments of eerie silence when you're walking alone And those are nothing new. Outside of excluding the Predators as a playable race, and adding some menial reward mechanisms you see in EVERY OTHER FPS out there, i don't see how this can be viewed as anything other than a dumbed-down AVP3 clone. The optimization itself seems to be horrendous, as the already non-stellar gameplay suffered almost omnipresent lag spikes. IN SINGLE PLAYER. How the hell does that happen? This might be a huge issue with paying customers, since some of them coughed up quite a sum by pre-ordering. One other thing that seems to follow every game of late like the plague, is the over-dramatization of already "dramatic" events. I don't understand what the issue is there, and why does it happen so often, but it sucks to see marines acting as if this is some Aliens soap opera. How, in their right mind, would anyone take this game seriously after that fact is beyond me. I should have known, after seeing Randy Pitchford's smug little face on the trailers, that this game is going to bomb. The AI is pathetic. I've seen better enemy reactions in Wolfenstein. I give it a 5 out of sheer devotion to the franchise, nothing else. If this was any other generic fps, it wouldn't even sell at the bargain bin. My advice is, play something else. Until it gets a couple of well-deserved patches, you should forget that this "thing" even exists.… Expand
  28. Alga
    Feb 12, 2013
    5
    My collectors edition arrived today when i opened box i was happy. Collectors edition looks very nice but when i installed the game... I started playng with friend and from the begining i had problem is black screen (bug) i sorted out using forum. When we was playng for few hours i decided this game looks boring for me all the time waves of aliens incoming you just shoots them, balisticMy collectors edition arrived today when i opened box i was happy. Collectors edition looks very nice but when i installed the game... I started playng with friend and from the begining i had problem is black screen (bug) i sorted out using forum. When we was playng for few hours i decided this game looks boring for me all the time waves of aliens incoming you just shoots them, balistic looks like in COD very close to it and i didnt like it. I used max setting on video but graphic looks like 4 years old comepletly horrible comparing to new games. I didnt try multiplayer atm but what i can say i expected much more from gearbox. Borderlands series is awsome but making aliens and stoping project then continue again.... in my opinion this project isnt finished yet. They also should add more staff or items better costumization. This game will become borring very soon!!!… Expand
  29. dansl
    Feb 16, 2013
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Overall, this was a fun game. In fact, I'm going to play it a second time on a harder difficulty because I enjoyed it so much. I do have a few "issues" with the game though... Firstly the default PC controls are poorly assigned... Push "V" for melee combat... seriously!? Melee is meant to be quick and swift, I had to constantly look down at my keyboard to find the "V" key when an alien pounced on me. Also, making "F" key the alternate fire key... seriously!? I feel like the mouse should handle all the weapon controls. Primary fire is left click, secondary fire can be right-click, or middle-click. Not pushing "F" on the keyboard... That's like having to reach down and push a button on your Hip to make your gun launch a grenade. Just doesn't make sense... So anyways, I reassigned it so that left-click was primary-fire, middle-click was alt-fire, right click was melee-attack, "F" was flashlight. The game was much better from that point on.

    The next thing I noticed was a somewhat buggy AI... From time to time, I would see enemies running into walls or not moving at all while I shoot them. The "co-op" AI was also somewhat dumb, just standing getting shot in many cases... But I can look past some of it... Being a developer myself, I understand that building a good AI is super difficult.

    Lastly, the end Boss battle... SPOILER ALERT... The end boss battle was LAME! You run around, push 5 buttons, and its over... Never using any weapons... Seriously? All these weapons i've been upgrading, and customizing, and I dont get to use any of them for the final battle? Not even a couple times? Nope... You literally run around a room, avoiding the queen, while you push 5 buttons, that eventually eject her from the ship... Pretty lame... You dont even get to use the Power Loader suit. In fact, you only get to use the Power Loader suit ONCE in the entire game... Why go through all the effort to have the Power Loader when you only use it once... and its a crappy battle when you do use it... I feel like they could have done more with the Power Loader and the Final Battle. At least involved using your weapons somehow.    … Expand
  30. klownkill
    Feb 12, 2013
    5
    I have played for about 3 hours and I would score it about 55/100. Graphics are at least 5 years out dated, You don't get any advantage using a 120hz monitor as the game runs at 60fps doesn't matter if vsync is on or off. So I don't see any reason spending $120 USD on this game.
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Awards & Rankings

26
#26 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
37
#37 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
45

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 40 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 40
  3. Negative: 23 out of 40
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Jun 10, 2013
    60
    Judging by the result, Gearbox could not handle the tremendous success of Borderlands 2. On the other hand, there’s this erroneous notion that franchises can exploit their name and are justified to produce mediocre titles for ever. Those two facts were enough to condemn Aliens: Colonial Marines. While it’s true that the console version is even worse, the competition in the PC shooter genre, is relentless. [April 2013]
  2. Pelit (Finland)
    Mar 15, 2013
    68
    I dared to hope, but was given a game so dull and average, that is an actual achievement itself. [March 2013]
  3. Hyper Magazine
    Mar 12, 2013
    60
    Not as bad as the wost Aliens games, yet it's also not in the same league as the very best, leaving ACM to meandering in the space system of mediocrity. [Apr 2013, p.69]
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